The Study Center
by Namine09
Summary: Set in an alternate universe, children 12-18 are sent to live in a facility where they are put through simulations. These simulations are used to study relationships and interactions between adolescents. But without knowing who you are once the simulation begins, how can you tell which is real and which is the fantasy world? A dark twist on the popular online game My Candy Love.
1. Chapter 1

"Candy?"

I lifted my eyes up, but only my eyes. I was ready for this day to be done, or, well at least it [i]felt[/i] like it was day time; for all I knew it had already switched over to night. Was I in trouble? Had I moved out of turn? Not possible: I'd been sure to keep my eyes on my work, but the empty lines on the paper showed what good that had done.

Concentration wasn't my strongest suit and the more time I spent here the worse it became. But I knew that if I hesitated longer than I already had then I'd be in for real trouble. Poor Castiel had lost meals for a week before, and I wasn't keen on feeling the stabbing pains of hunger today.

"Yes ma'am?"

My voice was cracked from dehydration. With my grades going down over the past month, I'd lost rights to the hall pass. It was just as well that they banned me from it since they always seemed to come up with any excuse to keep us from escaping this cell of a "class room".

"Would you like to come to the front of the class and present your findings?"

[i]Of course not.[/i] I couldn't just say that, but I wanted to. How much longer would we be stuck in this study? Since turning twelve and beginning puberty all children were forced into the facility, but I was sick of it. Only on your eighteenth birthday would you be freed back into the world, but I have no idea what they were still trying to learn from us. Begrudgingly, I answered,

"Yes…ma'am."

Pushing up from my desk, I moved with careful steps towards the front of the classroom. My papers were left at my seat since they wouldn't prove to be much help anyways with their bareness. As I walked I made sure to keep my eyes away from anyone just as I'm sure they were doing with me.

The room felt colder today; they must have turned off the heat. Was it winter outside? There were no windows allowed so it was nearly impossible to tell. Some kids believed that we might very well be underground…the idea made my stomach turn: as if I could feel any more trapped than I already was.

Whenever we [i]were[/i] allowed outside it was for a very brief amount of time, hardly enough to tell what season it was, much less the month. The screen that acted as a black board for us had our assignments on it and I turned my back on it so that I could face the class. Most of them kept their heads down, but Castiel's grey eyes lifted up. They seemed duller today than usual; no doubt the hunger was getting to him.

He wanted out of this place just as much as I did, probably more since he always showed the most defiance so readily.

"Well, Miss Sen?"

My eyes moved over to her when she addressed me in that ironic way that she did for all of us: with a mockery of respect, as if anyone here cared about us at all. We were tools and nothing more. Rather than make a snide comment, I looked forward again,

"The affects of petite females on male peers."

I breathed out slowly and began my explanation on what I'd found out. Our purpose here, after all, was to study relationships and go through simulations. I was due for another one soon, and I'd grown so distracted that I pretty much had resorted to making things up as I went when brought back to the "class room", even now. What were they expecting from us that would be different from the thousands that had come before us?


	2. Chapter 2

A sharp bell rung. Finally. Classes were over and even though we all had to be as orderly as possible, we quickly moved from our seats and packed our backpacks. I flung mine over my shoulders and made my way to the door, catching Castiel's for a fleeting moment before he was out the door and headed towards his zodiac sign's sleeping quarters. That's how all of us were divided up, and then from there we were split off by gender. I wanted to know how the hunger was affecting him, but I'd have to wait until it was time for our next meal. Maybe I'd be able to sneak him something this time…

Aiding a person under punishment was strictly forbidden, but I wouldn't have been the first one to attempt it. I turned the opposite way so that I could drop off my books in my own dormitory. Ahead of me I watched the back of a taller blonde boy whose head seemed to dip lower and lower with each passing day. Nathaniel was older than me, or at least he appeared to be since you started to lose track of the days after your first year here. Like me, he was heading towards the Aquarius dorms, and I picked up my pace so that I could walk alongside him.

"Hey…"

I made sure to keep my voice soft, but he still jerked, if only slightly, and kept his golden eyes forward.

"…hey…"

It was only by about half a foot, but he stepped a little distance away from me as we walked. That was another thing that we were never allowed to do: touch one another. Even if it was a simple brush in the hallway, we were never allowed to touch a member of the opposite gender. I suppose they feared that we might get too used to the idea of touching…Perhaps that had happened before in the past. I tried again to talk to him,

"Supper's coming up…"

He barely nodded and kept his silence. I knew that he wanted me to walk away from him, to leave him alone, but I couldn't help the pity I felt for him whenever I saw him. Unlike the rest of us, Nathaniel had been brought here when he was ten years old, so he'd suffered it for longer than any of us. I wasn't exactly sure why, but it was more than rude to ask something like that.

"Do…you want to sit with Iris and me…-?"

"Don't you have a simulation tonight?"

My lips parted in shock since he'd not only spoken to me, but cut me off before I could finish completely. But he was right: I [i]did[/i] have a simulation tonight. His eyes drifted over to me, and they seemed even more lacking today than usual. None of us liked to think about going into a simulation. Now it was my turn to look forward, which I did, nodding,

"Mhmm…do you?"

He said nothing, but I didn't blame him. If you knew that someone had a simulation then you weren't allowed to tell them if you did as well, after all: your paths might cross in the simulation, and if you knew that beforehand then it could influence you while you were in it. But now I couldn't help but wonder, did he…? He couldn't, Nathaniel was much too careful now to give himself away so easily. He was probably just trying to catch me off guard since it was obvious that he didn't want to be bothered right now; he wouldn't have been the first to do it. All of us saw simulations as a threat, so to bring one up was usually a sure fire way to have someone back off.

"So what about supper…?"

But when I looked back over at him he was gone. In all reality I was lucky to get the few words from him that I'd managed. Everyone around me continued walking, some speaking to each other in hushed tones, but for the most part people kept quiet. What would happen if we decided to act up…? Usually the ones that did so…Well, I'm not sure what happens to them, all I know is that you never see them again.

And the unknown is much scarier than concrete walls and a perfectly controlled life.


	3. Chapter 3

"All right now Candy, are you comfortable?"

Even though the seat was frigid as it often was, I nodded my head stiffly. I wanted to be back in my room nestled in my warm bed, but that wouldn't be a possibility for a few more hours. One good thing about having to do a simulation meant that you got to sleep in the following day and have your missed classes made up the next night. But what a price to pay.

There was a light hum from the base of the chair as it slowly laid back; leaving me flat on it with my wide eyes on the ceiling above me. Around me, three people were attaching small sensors to my forehead, chest, arms, stomach, practically anywhere they could. Thankfully I was allowed to wear clothes: a small victory they'd given us. Back in the day this was done with the subject naked. How they were able to stand it was beyond me. Even if it was for something strictly medical or for the sake of study, I would never be comfortable with being unclothed around so many people.

My eyes moved to the monitor that showed my heart rate and breathing; both of which were picking up in pace. It would happen soon, any moment now. There'd be a warning like always, but I was never quite able to hold back the painful anticipation of it. Like falling asleep, it was something we were never able to witness consciously, and that just made it more frightening.

It was so cold, but I knew that the light tremble in my body had nothing to do with the temperature: I was afraid. I was always afraid, but soon the fear would be forgotten. You never remembered your life in a simulation: all you knew was what the computers wanted you to know. Who would I see this time? Who would I have to interact with and with what mind? Would I be a kind person? A manipulator? Maybe a horrible liar…You were never told, not even a hint towards it.

Last time I'd been a meek little thing, hardly able to talk to anyone. Our faces and bodies may always be the same, but never who we were on the inside. I just wish they'd hurry up and get it over with! Couldn't they see how scared I was?!

"Now…count back from one hundred."

I swallowed down and nodded again, unaffected by the operator's attempt at a comforting voice. A small mask was brought to my nose and mouth and I eagerly breathed in the floral scented fog.

By ninety-nine I was gone.


End file.
